Co-creation of the curriculum Dr Catherine Bovill, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK Dr Niamh Moore-Cherry, University College Dublin, Ireland Mr Luke Millard, Birmingham City University, UK Dr Alison Cook-Sather, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, USA Dr Peter Felten, Elon University, North Carolina, USA International Enhancement Themes Conference June 2013

Overview 1. Introduction Dr Catherine Bovill, University of Glasgow 2. Co-creating curriculum in a mass education system: challenges and insights Dr Niamh Moore-Cherry, University College Dublin, Ireland 3. Broadening engagement: Can we engage all students, not just the select few? Mr Luke Millard, Birmingham City University, UK 4. How do we ensure we engage and take seriously diverse students? Dr Alison Cook-Sather, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, USA 5. How do we ensure we engage particular groups of students? Dr Peter Felten, Elon University, North Carolina, USA

Shifting ideas about teaching Student centred learning, Student engagement, Enquiry based learning, Problem based learning etc. But “…participatory principles and practices may become divested of their socially progressive potential by the economic preoccupations of higher education reform.” (Lambert, 2009:296) The context is challenging

Current interest Student representation (SPARQS 2011) Students as researchers (Jenkins & Healey, 2009; Otis & Hammond 2010) Students as change agents (Dunne & Zandstra, 2011) Students as producers (McCulloch, 2009) Student as producer (Neary, 2011) Students as active participants (Bovill & Bulley, 2009) Students as consultants (Cook-Sather, 2009) Students as partners (Bovill et al, 2011, Little, 2011) Students as co-creators (Bovill et al, 2011)

Co-creating what? What is the curriculum? Fraser & Bosanquet’s (2006) curriculum definitions a) Structure and content of a unit b) Structure and content of a programme of study c) The students’ experience of learning d) A dynamic and interactive process of teaching and learning (p272)

Examples of co-creation students asked to complete course feedback questionnaire students choosing the topic for their research project students co-designing marking criteria with staff students designing (one of?) their own learning outcomes students and staff collaborate to choose a course text book students choosing which of two assessments they complete for a course students becoming members of a curriculum design team students designing the content of the virtual learning environment for a course or programme

Challenges we need to consider… We have a professional body that constrains what we can do with our curriculum… I only teach these students for two weeks and the course is co- ordinated by someone else… We are all overstretched and this sounds like more work… I teach first years and they don’t have 20 years of experience like me to know what needs to be in the content of the first year chemistry curriculum…

Bovill, C. & Bulley, C.J. (2011) A model of active student participation in curriculum design: exploring desirability and possibility. In Rust, C. Improving Student Learning (18) Global theories and local practices: institutional, disciplinary and cultural variations. Oxford: OCSLD. Bovill C., Cook-Sather, A. and Felten, P. (2011) Changing Participants in Pedagogical Planning: Students as Co-Creators of Teaching approaches. Course Design and Curricula. International Journal for Academic Development 16 (2) Cook-Sather, A (2009) 'From traditional accountability to shared responsibility: the benefits and challenges of student consultants gathering midcourse feedback in college classrooms', Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 34: 2, Dunne, E. and Zandstra, R. (2011) Students as change agents. New ways of engaging with learning and teaching in higher education. Bristol: ESCalate/University of Exeter. Fraser, S. & Bosanquet A. (2006). The curriculum? That's just a unit outline, isn't it? Studies in Higher Education, 31 (3) 269–284. Jenkins, A. & Healey, M. (2009) Developing the student as a researcher through the curriculum. In Rust, C. (Ed) Improving Student Learning: for the Twenty First Century learner. Oxford: OCSLD, Oxford. Lambert, C. (2009) Pedagogies of participation in higher education: a case for research-based learning. Pedagogy, culture and society 17 (3) Little, S (2011) (Ed) Staff-student partnerships in higher education. London: Continuum. McCulloch, A. (2009) The student as co-producer: learning from public administration about the student- university relationship. Studies in Higher Education 34 (2) Neary, M (2010) Student as producer: a pedagogy for the avant-garde? Learning Exchange, 1 (1). Otis, M.M. & Hammond, J.D. (2010) Participatory action research as a rationale for student voices in the scholarship of teaching and learning. In Werder, C. and Otis, M. (Eds) Engaging student voices in the study of teaching and learning. Sterling, Virginia: Stylus. SPARQS (2011) Annual report. Avail: References

Main presentations

Questions for you Speak to the people around you – in pairs and threes share your answers to the following questions: 1.What are your immediate reactions to the presentations you have just heard? 2.What idea or example was the most powerful, interesting, or useful for you? 3.What questions are you left with, which you would like to pose to the panel?